4 ms·

>I hear this a lot, in the context of, we must keep growing the global population on the off chance that someone may be born who comes up with a way to live on

>I hear this a lot, in the context of, we must keep growing the global population on the off chance that someone may be born who comes up with a way to live on an over-populated, polluted, resource-depleted planet. It's nonsense. Standards of living globally are better than at any time in the past, yet in spite of the continued failed predictions of disaster people have been making for the past couple hundred years, people still persist in making such predictions. Willfully ignoring humanity's ability to adapt and overcome, that's the real nonsense.

antisthenes 6y ago
The first part of it is nonsense - quantity of people does not translate into quality and innovation automatically. You have to free people from drudgery and spend tons on their education, and provide them with a stable environment in which to work, and cultural encouragement for the parents to nourish children's curiosity. Only then can you hope to generate ideas that surpass our already quite formidable body of knowledge, and it's still not guaranteed. > yet in spite of the continued failed predictions of disaster people have been making for the past couple hundred years, people still persist in making such predictions. They only have to be right once. On a geological time scale, a disaster is certainly inevitable. Not that I necessarily agree with doomsaying all the time. Population growth isn't the biggest issue we're facing.
- ThomPete 6y ago
  That is why we need to create knowledge to be able to curb these disaster to make sure we don't follow the fate of almost all other species who's gone extinct and are likely to go extinct. We are the one species that might just have a chance if we don't succumb to the dystopian pessimist view that is a much bigger risk than anything else.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    You don't get it. All the knowledge in the world already exists. There is no lack of new knowledge for the problems of today. Existing populations are lacking old knowledge.

antisthenes 6y ago

The first part of it is nonsense - quantity of people does not translate into quality and innovation automatically. You have to free people from drudgery and spend tons on their education, and provide them with a stable environment in which to work, and cultural encouragement for the parents to nourish children's curiosity. Only then can you hope to generate ideas that surpass our already quite formidable body of knowledge, and it's still not guaranteed. > yet in spite of the continued failed predictions of disaster people have been making for the past couple hundred years, people still persist in making such predictions. They only have to be right once. On a geological time scale, a disaster is certainly inevitable. Not that I necessarily agree with doomsaying all the time. Population growth isn't the biggest issue we're facing.

ThomPete 6y ago
That is why we need to create knowledge to be able to curb these disaster to make sure we don't follow the fate of almost all other species who's gone extinct and are likely to go extinct. We are the one species that might just have a chance if we don't succumb to the dystopian pessimist view that is a much bigger risk than anything else.
- imtringued 6y ago
  You don't get it. All the knowledge in the world already exists. There is no lack of new knowledge for the problems of today. Existing populations are lacking old knowledge.